Background: Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a clinical syndrome manifested by neurological symptoms in the first days of life in term infants.
Purpose: To investigate the therapy effect of Buyanghuanwu Tang (BYHWT), a decoction with 7 herbal ingredients, on neonatal rats with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and its mechanism.
Methods: 50 3-week male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into normal control group, model group, BYHWT 1d group, BYHWT 3d group and BYHWT 7d group, 10 rats in each group. The HIE model of was established in later 4 groups. The later 3 groups were treated with BYHWT for 1, 3 and 7 days, respectively, and the normal control group and model group were treated with PBS. The Morris water maze test and dynamic (18)F-FDG-PET/CT imaging were performed. The changes of hippocampal tissue observed by histopathologic examination, and the expressions of JNK1/JNK2 and TNF-α protein were observed western blotting.
Results: Compared with model group, the impaired performance on distance and latency parameters was mitigated in BYHWT 1d group, BYHWT 3d group and BYHWT 7d group (P < 0.01), the FDG uptake was decreased in BYHWT 3d group and BYHWT 7d group, the apoptotic cells and inflammatory cells were significantly decreased in BYHWT 3d group and BYHWT 7d group, and the expressions of JNK1/JNK2 and TNF-α protein were significantly decreased in BYHWT 7d group (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: BYHWT can delay the HIE onset and preserve the motor function, primarily by regulating inflammation, apoptosis and inhibition by mediating JNK signaling.
Keywords: Buyanghuanwu Tang; JNK; PET/CT; hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.